Solar Opinions??

Re: Solar Opinions??

54d18 wrote: »

Does anyone have any comments on a manufacturer
by the name of Trina Solar?

Also, I've heard of Kyocera, but are they any good?

How about Sharp?

Still Shopping...Just doing some homework

Good to see another Northerner on this site (I'm in T Bay). I'm getting ready to purchase 10kw of panels for a microFIT project (likely REC, Yingli, or Trina) from the US, and have them shipped to the nearest convenient place to pick them up on the US side of the border. The cost seems to be about half that of any supplier on this side of the border. If you are just looking for an online vendor on this side of the border, try http://www.theresourcestore.ca/ (from St. Thomas, near London).

The big Chinese module companies are Trina, Yingli, SunTech, Canadian Solar, China Sunergy, and Solarfun. All are supposed to have decent product with decent warranty. It seems that the vast majority of PV panel production will be based in China within the next few years.

From other parts of the world, reputable manufacturers include (in no particular order): Sanyo, Kyocera, Sharp, REC, Evergreen, Mitsubishi, SunPower, Schott, Solon, Andalay, and BP (and many others).

If you haven't already looked too much into the tech, you'll find that there's a few different types of PV panels - namely mono-crystalline, poly-crystalline (aka multi-crystalline), and thin-film. Either of the crystalline types are pretty good and have a long track record. The thin-film stuff (available from companies like DuPont, UniSolar, Kaneka) is newer and has less of a long-term performance record. Thin film is generally less expensive per watt up front, but requires more space for the same amount of watts (not a problem if you have extra acres of land where the panels can go, but tricky if you have a limited amount of roof space for mounting your panels).

Right now one of the key questions is whether the manufacturer of your panels will be in business in 10 or 15 years to honor the warranty. Some of these companies are currently in dire financial situations and may not be around. Others are large conglomerates where solar is just one of many business lines.

Of course other important factors include price per watt, compatibility with your selected inverters or charge controllers, and how many panels or how much area will be required for the amount of power you require.